Batman: The Dark Knight #9

Oh yeah! Teen Titans were doing a crossover of their own so Red Robin needed a comic book title to fight a talon of his own!

Judd Winick, writer of the best Night of the Owls comic so far, Catwoman, is writing this issue so maybe it'll be a decent Night of the Owls' story. At least David Finch isn't writing it because the comic has been terrible up until this point.

And then again, maybe this comic is just full of bat-crap. Yes, I know that would be guano. But I wanted to use the format "bat" and "noun". This issue begins with the Talon that stabbed Lincoln March in the chest getting shot in the head.

I wish it really were your last thought, Mr. Talon. But there are still 18 more pages of comic. So, continue.

Immediately after the Talon Narration Boxes, "It is my last thought", he then starts another story with, "I began at Haly's circus." Have I mentioned how much I hate the way the writers use the Narration Boxes? I once likened it to Lester's narration in the movie American Beauty. And now it is exactly like that! The dead Talon is going to narrate a new story. Everyone tuck into their popcorn and milk duds and let's enjoy the show.

This Talon's name was Alton (oh! oh! So creative, Writer Judd Winick!) and the ringmaster burned him alive in a mobile trailer to teach him how to be a talon and to not fear walking on the high wire. I'm not sure how the one thing was meant to help with the other thing, but the Ringmaster seemed proud of Alton when he emerged still living from the inferno.

This Talon was working while Dick Grayson was still training in Haly's Circus with his parents. But he was already old and making mistakes. Batman beats him up one night and he's retired by the Court of Owls. I don't know which Talon takes over (if any) since Dick was being groomed to be the next Talon and he was still in the circus with his parents. Since he never became the new Talon, did this mean that no Talon existed for a number of years? Or did the Court of Owls bring William Cobb out of retirement to cover for his ancestor Grayson who bailed on the job? It would make sense having no Talon in Gotham during most of Batman's career. This would have caused the Court of Owls to keep a low profile and keep Batman from hearing much about them.

This Talon was killed by Lincoln March. But he regenerates enough to attack Batman when Batman comes to save Lincoln. But Batman kills him again by kicking him out of a window. And then Batman continues after the Court of Owls because Lincoln March gives him enough information to finish this whole crossover in the Annual. But the Talon that Lincoln just killed which Batman then thew out of the window and killed again, comes back to life yet again. I don't know if that Talon will appear again in the Annual or in the Talon Comic Book that begins in Spetember. But whatever happens, Red Robin doesn't do shit in this comic book. So why the fuck is he on the cover fighting a Talon? Fuck you, DC. Get your act together already!

Batman: The Dark Knight #9 Rating: -1 Ranking. This comic might not as well have been published. The story sucks. The story has nothing to do with anything. The story doesn't help understand anything going on in Batman's life. This comic is just a waste of time and 399 pennies. It is the worst.